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Verizon set to seal expanded NFL streaming rights deal

USA - American football - 20 Nov 2017

Author: Florence Lloyd-Hughes

Verizon, the US telecoms giant, is on the verge of agreeing a renewal of its digital streaming rights deal with American football’s NFL, in an expanded agreement that will include rights on larger devices for the first time, it has been reported.

The telecoms company will add
internet-connected televisions and tablets to its rights deal, according to
sources cited by Bloomberg.

Verizon’s most recent digital deal, which was signed in 2013 and understood to be worth $1 billion, includes rights to nationally-televised NFL games on Thursday, Sunday and Monday nights, as well as Sunday afternoon games in a team’s home market, but it is limited to streaming on screens of seven inches or less.

It is expected that Verizon will lose its exclusivity
as a result of the expanded deal, as rival streaming providers such as DirecTV
Now and Sling TV will also be able to offer customers access to the games on
mobile devices.

In 2010, Verizon signed an initial four-year deal to become the NFL’s official mobile partner. The agreement was worth $720 million.

Earlier this year, Verizon is understood to have paid $21 million for the exclusive live streaming rights to one of the NFL’s International Series games in London.

The telecoms company live-streamed the Jacksonville Jaguars’ game against the Baltimore Ravens in September.

The NFL’s streaming coverage has expanded since it began offering a package of games to platforms in 2015.

Yahoo, the technology giant which was acquired by Verizon for $4.8 billion last year, was the first to pick up the offer and paid around $15 million to live-stream one London game between the Jaguars and the Buffalo Bills.

A year later, social media giant Twitter picked up a package of 10 Thursday night games that were also shown on national networks CBS and NBC, in a deal worth $10 million.

In April, Amazon, the e-commerce giant,
paid five times as much for the same package of games this season.